The horrific gun massacre at the Washington Naval Yard has done farily little to reignite the gun control debate. This is not surprising, considering the state of the debate following things like #Aurora #Tuscon and #NewTown.

Those opposed to any sort of gun control are focusing on the wrong parts of the 2nd Amendment and the fact that media outlets identified the weapon incorrectly – missing the point again. Horrifically, and with continuing fatal consequences.

In the wake of the tragedy, The American Journal of Medicine has pushed ahead the publishing of a study about gun rates and gun deaths – and how high ownership rates directly correlate to high gun deaths.

The findings are unsurprising, but important.

Here's the most important excerpt:

“There was a significant correlation between guns per head per country and the rate of firearm-related deaths with Japan being on one end of the spectrum and the US being on the other. This argues against the notion of more guns translating into less crime. South Africa was the only outlier in that the observed firearms-related death rate was several times higher than expected from gun ownership.”

The only country which didn't line up with the results was South Africa. That's it.

As a pastor, I feel it is my duty towards the Wesleyan idea of “Social Holiness” to speak out on this issue. The Christian cannot let this status quo remain. The Christian should be outspoken when common sense proves Biblical principles.

I hate people who bandy about terms that start with the word “biblical,” but this is actually true.

The goal of Christian involvement in this issue doens't have to be to support measures which remove all guns from the hand of civilians. However, each and every Christian should search their hearts for whether or not they should actually own one, let alone what they believe about the issue.